Fire extinguisher for motor vehicles



May 13, 1952 J. CARPANI 2,596,761

FIRE EXTINGUISHER FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Original Filed June 28, 1937 5Sheets-Sheet 1 g iirilillrli.

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y 13, 1952 J. CARPANI 2,596,761

FIRE EXTINGUISHER FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Original Filed June 28, 1957 5Sheets-Sheet 3 May 13, 1952 J. CARPANI 2,596,761

FIRE EXTINGUISHER FOR MOTOR VEHICLES Qriginal Filed June 28, 1937 5Sheets-Sheet 4 Jfidenior: Jsefih G9rpanb,

J. CARPANI FIRE EXTINGUISHER FOR MOTOR VEHICLES May 13, 1952 OriginalFiled June 28, 1937 '5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IrwenZon Jseph Gar Patented May13, 1952 UNITED STATES FFICE TENT FIRE EXTINGUISHER FOB/MOTOR VEHICLESJoseph Carpani, Camden, N. .l'-

9' Claims. 1

My invention relates to a new and useful fire extinguisher for motorvehicles, originally disclosed in the abandoned application Serial No.150,696, filed June 28, 1937, for which this application is asubstituteand has for one of its objects to provide a combination of elementswhich will cause a fire extinguishing substance to be sprayed overalarge area of one or more localities of the motor vehicle should saidvehicle turn over which is generally due-to accidents.

Another object of my invention is to mount a container at some suitableplace on the vehicle and especially locate it where it can be con- Aveni'ently' filled with a fire extinguishing liquid or substance andsupplied with air under pressure, to provide a valve controlled outletmeans leading to a p ace or places where fire may occur, to providemeans manually operable in one direction for closing the valve and sring actuated in the opposite direction, for automatically opening thevalve, to provide an electrically operated latch orlock for normallyholding the valve actuating means in the position where the valve isclosed, and to provide a mercury fluid switch in an electric circuitconnected with the latch or lock.

Another object of my invention is to produce a mercury switch of uniqueconstruction.

Another object of my invention is to include the mercury switch in theelectrical ignition circuit of the vehicle.

Another object of my invention is to provide a by-pass around the valvewhereby the fire extinguishing substance can be separately controlled bymeans other than the valve.

Another ob ect of my invention is to pmvide a manually operable switch nthe electric circuit whereby the Vave actuating mechanism may bereleased from within the vehicle should fire occur while the vehicle isin an upright position and occupied by aperson.

I extinguishing substance and of such construction that said fireextinguishing substance'will .be sprayed or distributed over a largearea.

It is a well known fact that motor vehicles, such as automobiles,airplanes and motor boats, often catch fire when turned over inaccidents due to the presence of a highly combustible liquid used asfuel. Under such a condition it is generally impossible to make use of aportable fire extinguisher. The disadvantageous condition referred toaboveis overcome by my invention because it is automatic in operationand functions during a time when a. person or persons occupying thevehicle may be unable to escape or use a hand fire extinguisher orattract the attention of other persons. The invention. would beparticularly beneficial for use in public service vehicles, such asomnibuses, because of the additional safety for the passengers.Considerable importance is attached to the unique construction of themercury switch as distinguished from switches actuated by pendulums orswinging bodies because the mercury switch is not affected by theordinary rocking motions of the vehicles.

With the above and other objects in view and the advantages hereinafterenumerated, this invention consists of the details of construction andcombination. of elements hereinafter Set forth and then designated bythe claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invent onappertains may understand how to make and use the same, I will describea construction in detail referring by numerals to the. accompanyingdrawings forming a part hereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of motor vehicle, illustrated as anautomobile, partly in elevation and partly in section, generally showingan installation of my invention.

Fig. 2 is an. enlarged fragmentary plan'view of r he vehicle chassisillustrating the relation of several of the main elements of theinvention an s owng the control valve and associated parts the open orfunctioning position.

Fig. 3 is a similar view with the control valve closed.

i is a transv. :se sectional view on the line id of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a rear face view of the instrument board of equivalent memberillustrating a possible relation of some elements to the mercury switch.

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view similar to 4 but without thebattery illustrating the condition of the mercury switch when the Ve-,hicle turns over sidewise in one direction.

Fig. 7 is the same kind. of a view showing the conditions when thevehicle turns over in the opposite direction.

Fig. 8 is a wirin diagram of :the electrical circuits.

Fig.9 is a longitudinal sectional view of an .O

28 from the container 22.

nibus illustrating another installation of my invention.

Fig. is a diagrammatic view of the mechanical features of the invention.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view of the valve operating mechanism on the lineof Fig. 2.

Fig. 12 is a sectional view, on the line |2-l2 of Fig. 10, of the tankholding the fire extinguishing substance and compressed air.

Fig. 13 is a view,. partly in elevation and partly in section, of therotary spreader and the outlet nozzle, which is controlled by a fusibleelement shown in a closed position.

Fig. 14 is a bottom plan view thereof.

Fig. 15 is a sectional view of the outlet nozzle controlled by thefusible element shown in an open condition.

Fig. 16 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal sectional view of theelectrically actuated latch or look and contiguous cooperating elements.

Fig. 17 is a section on the line of Fig. 16.

Fig. 18 is a section on the line |8|6 of Fig. 16.

Fig. 19 is a detail of one form of manually operated switch for closingthe electrical circult to the lock or latch.

In carrying out my invention as herein embodied 20 represents a vehiclewhich, for purposes of illustration only, is shown as a sedan automobilein Fig. 1 and as an omnibus in Fig.

' 9. Also for purposes of illustration only, the

vehicle is represented as including a chassis or frame 2|.

A container 22 is mounted in a suitable place on the vehicle and holds afire extinguishing substance 23, Fig. 12, preferably in liquid form, andair under pressure. The container has a filling inlet 24 convenientlylocated for placing the fire extinguishing substance therein said inletis normally maintained liquid and airtight by a closure 25. Also saidcontainer has an air inlet tube 26 leading thereto so air can be pumpedor otherwise forced into the container to build up a desired pressurewithin said container and said air inlet tube has a valve 27 therein thesame as or similar to a tire valve so that the usual tire pump or aircompressor of service stations can be used for supplying airto thecontainer.

A conduit 28 communicates with the interior of the position of thevehicle and therefore said container, the inlet end of the pipe 20 willbe submerged in the fire extinguishing substance so long as there is anyappreciable amount of said fire extinguishing substance in thecontainer.

A valve 2| is located in the conduit 23 to control the flow ofcompressed air propelled fire extinguishing substance through saidconduit This valve 3| has a handle 32 with an angular extension 33, Fig.11, that projects into the slot 34 of the cross head 35 on the slicingbar 36. Whenever the bar 36 is moved longitudinally, the valve 3| willbe operated to either open or close the same.

The bar 36 is mounted in suitable supports,

- such as cross piece of the frame or chassis, and

and

outer end of said handle lever 39 is located in a convenient position tobe operated when necessary and for purposes of illustration only it isshown 'as projecting through a side of the vehicle. Said outer end ofthe handle lever 39 may have a grip 42 if desirable. By moving the outerend of the handle lever 39 to the left,

considering Figs. 2 and 3, the bar 36 will be moved in opposition to theaction of the spring 31 and towards the electrically operated lock 42 tobe presently described.

For convenience of description the lock will be considered as mounted tothe rear of thesliding bar 36. The rear end of said bar has a rightangle lip 43 thereon, Fig. 2, which, when the bar is moved by the handlelever 38 longitudinally outward or toward the lock, enters an opening 44inthe lock casing and as shown in Fig. 17 this opening extends throughone face and the bottom of said lock casing. Within the casing, inalignment with the opening, is a catch 45 spring actuated in thedirection which closes the catch as shown in Fig. 17 and said catch ispositively held in the closed position bya spring actuated dog 46through the medium of an armature lever 41. The spring connected withthe dog normally returns it to the holding position so the adjacent endof the armature lever 41 may dropin front ofthe upper end of said dog.The armature lever is disengaged from the dog by the electromagnets 48when said magnets are energized. Due to the normally closed position ofthe catch 45 the end of the bar 36 carrying the lip 43 must rideunderthe nose of the catch wherefore said nose has a rounded outer surfaceand a spring 46 is mounted on the vehicle in the path of travel of therear end of the bar 36 so that the lip 43 after riding under the nose ofthe catch will be forced upward into engagement with the back of saidnose.

With the lip 43 held by the catch 45 the bar 36 is held in its outwardposition shown in Fig. 3 and the spring 3'! is expanded while the valve3| is closed. If the magnets 48 are energized the armature lever 41 willbe actuated to disengage it from the dog 46. The tension of the spring31 acting upon the catch 45 of the lock through the bar 36 and its lip43 will swing the catch 45 to an open position and release the bar 36.Of course the opening movement of the catch pushes the dog 46 out of the.way. As soon as the bar 36 is released the spring 31 moves said bar 36longitudinally inwardly and imparts an opening movement to the valve 3|so the compressed air in the container 22 is released and acts as acarrier to convey the fire extinguishing substance from said containerto the point or points of delivery for use in extinguishing fires.

The electricalcircuits controlling the electri= cally actuated latch orlock 42 will be more readily understood by reference to Fig. 8 wherein50 represents a battery, as the source of electric current, from oneside of which leads a conduc- 'elemehtsahii hack to the eatter'y 56.

161- 51 to ene;,-termins 52 inthe fhttiiiif-cif' the v sts-sped tube 53mounted in a: conven ent-place "in -the vehicle, as 'on the dasherinstrument "'bn'a' rd 5 A'branchfconductorffi leads from-the "conductor55 to a bridging-conductor 55conn'ect- "irrg the "terminals 5'l and 58in thef-upper ends for the separate legs of the "V shaped'tube, whichlegs"are in communication'at the bottom ends.

EOmpahiOn'terminaIs-E'S and to are'al'sdmounted in the 'uppe'r'endsotthef-separate legs ofsaid V-shaped tube "and are both connected by acommon; conductor 61 witht eEpoIeor-th iat h fer lock 42. j The otherpole of the latehfor; lock ebnnected with the other side of the battery"'50"through"a'conductor '63. There is another "terminal 64 inthe bottomof the {V shap'ed tube s: aha trom this leads aconduetor 65 to "thenecting one side of said switch 68 through'a conductor 10 with theconductor 551or'5l and by connecting the other side of said switch '68through a conductor H with the conductorv 65.

The V-shaped tube 53 contains mercury 12 that canentereither leg of saidtube'according to "the p'osition'of the latter and this mercury is shamethe vehicle be turned'ovenior example "towards the left the mercurywiu'fiowjinto the left leg of the V-shaped tube 53,'as 'shown in Fig.'6.- "This will open the circuit to the ignition town the 'motorwiustcpand as the mercury 'lriri'dgesthe'terminals 58 and fill acircuit'will becompleted from the battery 59 through conducj-to'rs sl, 55 arrest 'tot'ermmm 5s, thencethro gh 4 the "mercury 12, terminal 50, "conductor '6l electro magnetsls of the latch or leek te'tlie ground v Upo'nthelatter "circuit the latch or lock Willreleas' the "sliding ear and theextihguishi'ngsubstahce will be'deliv'ere'd as previously ex lained.

Should "the vehicle turn over iii "a genera ly right h'ahded'directionjthe mercury will fid'winto theright leg or the V-sh'aped tube53; as shown in Fig. '7. This will open the ignition circuit, as

win be ohyi ous'ahd as the rneieiiry bridgesthe terminals}? and59another circuit'will be closed from the battery through'conductors 5|and 55 to the terminals 51, thence through the'inercury,

the terminal 59, the conductor 6|,the jmaignets of the latch orlock theconductor 62 and the ground elementsback to the battery.

lt'niight b'e wen to state at this time that the operation cf the devicedoes not depend upon the "vehicle turning ever actually either to the'rig'htbr left, but generally speaking a-vehicle when turning over hasatendencytoswi'ng to one side the other and therefore the terms usedhave been employedbnly fer purposes of neat-net's or descriptionsAssuming that the "v'ehicle' turned over fmntwarss or backwards on aneven keel the mercury i'n'ight be "split so that some of it would flowinto both le s of the V-sha'ped tube and since there is a 'si'ifiicientamount of mercury in the ti'ibe to take care of 'forth v ff' i tfi pcifis ha er'erore the ap aratus "will" function as "Set It is to'h'ej'iully {understood that t ignition "circuit only-has "to ba tries-a d either of the In order to distribute the ire jextingui'shi nubstance ver yj e r t e d aspinningfsprayer 13 including a hub 'H am--nalled. on a'suitable trunnion 15 depending from ajfi'tting 16 connectedto the conduit 2s or the brea hes 29 thereof T e -'huh;1 4 is provided:with radial arms Hcarryingtiltedj serni spheriea'1 cups in "Which'receive the impulse 'qr the "compressed air carrying the "'fireextinguishing jelectrieal ignition of the'inotorfifi of t'he 'v. e hic5le.' 111"desirablefanelectric light 6'! maybe included "in the ignitioncircuit. A manually operable switch68, preferably 'offthe type havingareinov able key *69, Fig. 19, to actuate the same, is "shunted-"aroundthe V-shaped'tube'53 by consubstalnee to impart a rotary motion to thespinning sprayer. Because of theior natlonfof the cups the fireextinguishing substance is deflected and also thrown about by'centrifugalfoi'ce to cover a wide expanse of, suriace acljac'ent the'sprayer. The fire extinguishing substance isffed to the spinningsprayer through one or more nozzles 19, preferably two, connected withthe conduit 28, as through the fitting 15.

The distribution of the fireextinguishingsubstance is also controlled bya valve normallyretained in aclosed position bya fusible element. Tocarry out this feature of the invention,' a conduit 80 is connected withthe container as through the conduit 28 ahead of the valve iil. Said.conduit 80 may lead to a locality in the region of the motor, asin-Ffig. '1 onto saidlocality' and toother places suchias difierentparts of the vehicle body by branches 8i ofsai'd consets in a hole inthe stirrup 8?. The upper ends of the stirrup arms slide throughapertures "in long legs of said bell crank levers.

the supporting plate 83 and are prevented from oompletelydropping awayfrom said supporting plate by holding pins sis fixed in the upper endsof the stirrup arms. The arms of the stirrup have lugs 39 thereon,preferably on both sides, and a suitable distance below the upper endsof said arms. 7 i

7 These lugs 89 'are engaged by the short legs of the bell crank levers9i) pivoted or hung by their angles or crotches in the hangers 9idepending from the supporting plate 83. The bell crank levers arenormally held in closed position, as illustrated in Figs. 1-3 and 14 bya fusible element or strip 2 having holes in the ends thereof forregistration with the lower ends "or the When the hell crank levers areheld by the fusible strip, the valve as is pressed tight against theoutlet end of the nozzle 82 and prevents the escape of the fireextinguishing substance. Should the temperature in theregion of thenozzle 82 rise to a suiiieiently high degree to 'melt the fusibleelement 92,?15 in le e of me, t e heir crank levers will be released anddue especially to the pressure of the compressed air the valve 84 willbe forced op'en permitting the compressed air carrying the fireextinguishing substance to new from the nozzle and be sprayed onadjacent-objects.

Because of the semi-spherical shape of the valve 84 the course of thecompressed air and conveyed fire extinguishing substance will bedeflected for eificiently distributing the same.

The nozzle 82, valve 84 and component parts are enclosed by a protectiveor shielding cage 94 to prevent the parts being accidentally struck anddamaged.

As it is desirable that the operator of. the vehicle be able toascertain the pressure within the container 22 to know whether theapparatus is in working condition, I provide a pressure 7 gage 95connected by a conduit 96 with the container, as through the conduit 30or otherwise and I prefer to locate said gage 95 on the instrument ordash board and I have found that a convenient place is between the armsof the f V-shaped tube 53 although I desire it to be understood that Iam not restricted to these arrested due to a head on collision. lhiswill cause an operation of the fire extinguisher apparatus, whereas theordinary quick stopping of the vehicle when using the brakes will not doso.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and'useful is:

l. A fire extinguisher for motor vehicles comprising, in combination, acontainer to hold a fire extinguishing substance and compressed air as acarrier for said substance, said container having an outlet, a valve tocontrol said outlet, mechanism to operate said valve and spring urged ina direction to open said valve, electrically operated means totemporarily hold said mechanism in a position to maintain the valveclosed, a mercury switch and electrical circuits, one of which isnormally closed through the ignition circuit of the vehicle and at leastone other of which includes the electrically operated holding means,

said last named circuit being normally open and when closed causing theholding means to release the mechanism for opening the valve to permitthe escape of the fire extinguishing substance due to the pressure ofthe compressed air.

2. The structure of claim 1, in combination with a manually operableelectrical switch shunted across the circuit including the electricallyoperated holding means.

3. In a device or" the character described, a container mounted on avehicle and containing a fire extinguishing substance under pressure, aconduit connected to said container and leading to at least one place onthe vehicle where said substance is to be deliveredin case of fire, avalve in said conduit and having an operating lever, sliding means towhich the lever is connected for actuating said lever, means to normallyurge said sliding means in a direction to open the valve and manuallymovable in the opposite direction to close the valve, means totemporarily hold the sliding means in the position where the valve isclosed and electrically operable to release said sliding means wherebythe latter may be moved in the direction to open the valve, a

V-shaped' tube, electric circuits having terminals at the upper ends andthe junction of the arms of said tube, the circuit whose terminals areat the junction including the ignition of the vehicle and the circuitswhose terminals are at the upper ends of the tube arms including themeans to hold the sliding means and mercury in the tube adapted to flowinto either arm thereof according to the direction of an excessivetilting of the vehicle to open the circuit to the ignition and close oneor" the other circuits.

4. A fire extinguisher for motor vehicles comprising, in combination, acontainer mounted on the vehicle and adapted to hold compressed air anda fire extinguishing substance and provided with a filling opening, aremovable closure for said opening, an air inlet tube connected to thecontainena valve in said tube to prevent escape of air-through saidtube, an outlet conduit connected to said container and leading to. atleast one locality on the vehicle where fire may occur,

. a control valve in said outlet conduit, valve opcrating mechanismconnected to the movable element of said control valve, means to urgesaid mechanism in a direction to open thecontrol valve and manuallymovable in a direction to close said control valve, a lock totemporarily hold said mechanism in the position where the control valveis closed and electrically operable to release said mechanism wherebythe mechanism may be moved in the direction to open the control valve, aV-shaped mercury switch having its legs diverging upwardly, and normallyopen electric circuits each including one leg of said mercury switch andsaid lock whereby when the vehicle is overturned the circuit Will beclosed at the mercury switch to actuate the lock and release themechanism to open the control valve for supplying the fire extinguishingsubstance under pressure.

5. The structure in claim 4, in combination with a manually operableswitch in access of the operator of the vehicle to also close saidelectric circuit.

6. A fire extinguisher for motor vehicles comprising, in combination, acontainer mounted on the vehicle and adapted to hold compressed air anda fire extinguishing substance and provided with a filling opening, aremovable closure for said opening, an air inlet tube connected to saidcontainer, a valve in said tube to prevent the escape of air through thetube, an outlet conduit connected to the container and leading to aposition in the region of the vehicle motor, a control valve in saidconduit, a bar slidably mounted on the vehicle, a slotted cross-headcarried by said bar, an operating lever on the control valve and havinga part projected through the slot in the cross-head whereby movements ofthe bar will be transmitted to the control valve to open and close saidcontrol valve, a spring to urge the bar in a direction to open thecontrol valve, a handle lever pivoted on the vehicle connected to thebar so that it may be manually moved in a direc-- tion to closevalve, alip on the outer end of the bar, a lockmounted on the vehicle in thepath of travel of said lip to engage the latter for temporarily holdingthe bar in the position where the control valve is closed andelectrically operable to release the lip to permit the spring to movethe bar in a direction to open said control valve, a flat spring to beengaged by the bar to permit the lip to ride under the lock and then beurged into said block, a V-shaped tube mounted on the vehicle, anelectric circuit including a source of current and the ignition systemof the vehicle, said circuit having separated terminals in the tube atthe junction of its legs, other electric circuits including said sourceof current, and the lock, oneof said last named circuits havingseparated terminals in the upper end of one of the tube legs and theother of said last named circuits having separated terminals in theupper end of the other tube leg, and a quantity of mercury in the tubeto normally maintain the first mentioned circuit closed and fiowableinto either of the tube legs due to overturning of the vehicle wherebysaid first mentioned circuit will be opened and one of the othercircuits will be closed for actuating the lock.

7. The combination with a motor vehicle, of a container to hold a fireextinguishing substance under pressure, a conduit leading from saidcontainer to several localities of the vehicle, a valve in said conduit,means to operate said valve, a catch to normally hold said valveoperating means in a position where the valve is closed, electricallyoperable means to normally prevent movement of the catch, a V-shapedmercury tube mounted in a tilted position on the dash board of thevehicle, normally open electric circuits including a source ofelectricity, terminals of the open electric circuits in the upper endsof the mercury tube armsand the electrically operable means wherebyWhenever the vehicle is turned over one of said circuits will be closedto actuate the electrically operable means to release the valveoperating means for opening the valve, and manually operable means toclose an electric circuit to said electrically operable holding means.

8. A fire extinguisher for motor vehicles comprising, in combinationwith a motor vehicle including an electrical ignition system, of meansto store a fire extinguishing substance under pressure on the vehicle, avalve controlled outlet from said storage means; mechanism springactuated in one direction to open the outlet, means to hold saidmechanism in a position to retain the outlet closed and electricallyoperable to release the mechanism, electrical circuits including saidmechanism holding means and the ignition system, a V-shaped mercuryswitch having its legs diverging upwardly and interposed in saidelectrical circuits with terminals at the junction of through theignition system, and terminals in the upper portion of the legs andadapted to open the legs to normally maintain a closed circuit thecircuit through the ignition circuit and close the circuit through themechanism holding means when the vehicle is tilted to an excessivedegree.

9. A fire extinguisher for motor vehicles comprising, in combination, acontainer to hold a fire extinguishing substance and compressed air as acarrier for said substance, said container having an outlet, a valve tocontrol said outlet, mechanism to operate said valve and spring urged ina direction to open said valve, a spring catch to temporarily hold saidmechanism in a position to maintain the valve closed, electricallyoperated means to release said holding means, a V-shaped mercury switchhaving its legs diverging upwardly, and electrical circuits includingthe mercury switch, one of which is normally closed through an ignitioncircuit of the vehicle, and at least one other of which includes theelectrically operated holding means, said last named circuit beingnormally open and when closed causing the holding means to release themechanism for opening the valve to permit the escape of the fireextinguishing substance due to the pressure of the compressed air.

JOSEPH CARPANI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

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